Julie Taymor received the Sackler Center First Award, which recognizes women who are “first” in their field. The Center honored Taymor’s varied career including being the first woman to win the Tony award for Best Direction of a Musical for The Lion King.
In an interview with Playbill, Taymor discussed women in theater, Spiderman troubles and being a mentor amongst other topics.
On being a mentor:
I get very excited when young women come up to me and I am a role model for them. I find it incredibly fulfilling that girls use me or think of me as a
model for what they would like to be doing…I do think women have a hard time, and I still feel that’s been a part of some of the success and difficulties
I’ve had in the last few years. They can be attributed to that gender difference, but in general, I’ve put my blinders on. I just go out and do the work
and work with who I feel is the right talent to work with — male or female.
On challenges women face in their careers:
Are you too sexy? Are you too pretty? Are you wearing feminine clothes? Should you wear pants to an interview? We all go through all of that. That’s why
the most important thing as a director is: are you doing what you want to be doing? Are you staying true to your vision? Staying true to the vision is what
you were hired for; that’s what you got involved in, that is the main thing you have to do. People will use the feminine card all the time, but it’s a
really poor excuse, and frankly, don’t work with people who do that.
Taymor is currently working on an production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and several television and film projects.
